AutoFort

2 minute read

AutoFort is the first program I developed, utilizing AutoIt to automate gameplay in the video game Fortnite. It is designed to play the game like a human player, except it does not engage in combat with enemies. The program exploits the fact that players can earn XP simply by being in the game, even without actively participating in battles. By automating the process of exiting the battle bus and landing on the island, AutoFort allows users to accumulate XP without any manual input. This way I could reach level 100 with no real effort, getting the rare spray that normally required a lot of grinding to obtain.

Fortnite season 8 level 100 spray reward unlocked with AutoFort. — Spray that was only available to players who reached level 100 in season 8 of Fortnite. I got it for free with AutoFort.

Tools Used

AutoIt: The primary programming language for creating AutoFort.
Tesseract OCR: Used for reading text from the screen to track XP gains.

Method

Overview

AutoFort is structured as a suite of separate programs, each handling different tasks. This design choice was necessitated by AutoIt's lack of support for multithreading.

Workflow

The operation of AutoFort follows a sequential workflow:

GUI: The Graphical User Interface (GUI) serves as the central control panel for the program. It provides status updates and allows users to modify settings.
Screen Identifier: This component analyzes specific pixel sets on the screen when Fortnite is the active window. It determines the current state of the game and triggers the relevant program based on this analysis.
Relevant Program: These are specialized sub-programs designed for specific tasks within Fortnite. They simulate mouse movements and keystrokes to perform actions like exiting the battle bus.

Features

AutoFort comes equipped with several key features:

Supports All Screen Resolutions: It can operate across various display settings.
Easy-to-Use Interface: The GUI is straightforward, making it accessible for users of all skill levels.
Built-In Anti-Ban System: Reduces the risk of account penalties.
No Login Required: Enhances user privacy and convenience.
Counts XP Using OCR: Utilizes Optical Character Recognition to track XP gains accurately.

Result

I worked on AutoFort for about a year, and learned a lot about programming, product delivery, and customer support. Although I didn't make a fortune from it, AutoFort was sold for $4 per license key and actually had a few users which to me back then was big.

AutoFort GUI showing activation state and start controls. — Start screen of AutoFort, after activation. Clicking "Start Bot" would start Fortnite, attach the bot, and collect statistics.

Here is the very clickbaity video made for AutoFort on YouTube, where you can see a bit about how it played: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWt7Dh92Cc4

If I remember correctly, the game in the video was not cherry-picked; it really did perform quite well in general.